Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA) estimates coffee production to be down by 30-35% in 2019-20

KOCHI: Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA) has said that as per preliminary estimates the coffee production is expected to be down by at least 30-35% during 2019-20 due to heavy rain in Karnataka, the largest coffee producer in the country.

The association chairman M B Ganapathy told mediapersons at Bengaluru on Monday that like last time the current year too has been challenging considering the vagaries of weather and price issues leading to a financial crisis in the plantation sector.

``In 2019-20 too heavy and continuous rains from August to October in the plantation districts of Chikmagalur, south Coorg and Hassan districts had caused landslides and floods washing away coffee estates and damaging coffee infrastructure. Pepper crop too has been affected,’’ he said.


In 2018-19 KPA had estimated the coffee production to have dropped by 30% in general and 45% in Coorg due to unprecedented heavy rains, floods and landslides in August. The last arabica crop was the lowest ever picked and it cannot be 95,000 tonnes as estimated by the Coffee Board, Ganapathy said.

The impact of the climate change has been significant in the last few months which coupled with increased cost of production and lower price realisation has undermined by the sustainability of the plantations business, according to him.

``The cost of production is increasing year after year and is not commensurate with the prices. We note that the coffee prices are likely to remain at the present level for another two years,’’ he said.